


there are no stormy summer evenings in space

by boldlygoingnowherefast



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 08:37:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15577965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boldlygoingnowherefast/pseuds/boldlygoingnowherefast
Summary: With Asgard destroyed and a large swath of space between their stolen ship and Earth, Thor and Bruce finally get the time to figure out what is happening between them.





	there are no stormy summer evenings in space

**Author's Note:**

> Ragnarok opened my eyes to the beauty that is Thor and Bruce Banner, and though this took a while to happen, here it is!

Bruce was worried that after Hulking out on the rainbow bridge in Asgard, it would be another two years before Hulk let Banner see the light of day. When Bruce awoke to the metal panels of what seemed to be some sort of bunk, he immediately wondered how long it had been. He was under blankets, and there was something careful about the way he had been tucked in.

“Banner! Finally!”

Bruce turned his head to meet Thor’s happy gaze. He was sitting in a chair on the other side of the small room. Bruce had no idea where he was. The lighting was strange, and the whole place seemed to be made of the same type of metal.

“You look confused,” Thor said, setting the tablet he had been looking at on the small dresser attached to the wall.

“How long?” His voice wasn’t as rusty as it could have been, so Bruce guessed it had been less than a week.

“We left Asgard only a day ago.”

Bruce let out the breath he had been holding in his chest. “Thank god. I honestly thought I would be stuck as Hulk for a lot longer than that.”

Thor scratched the back of his neck, a strangely uncertain gesture for someone like Thor. After getting to know the God of Thunder, Bruce had been pleasantly surprised to note that the man had his own insecurities and hang-ups. He was more human than any god Bruce had ever heard about, and Bruce found himself incredibly interested in these little glimpses of humanity Thor let through. Thor might be more human than all of them.

“You turned into the Hulk to help me save my world, even when you knew you might not return. I cannot thank you enough for that,” Thor said. His gaze was earnest, and that was when Bruce finally realized—Thor had lost an eye and was wearing the ugliest eyepatch he had ever seen.

Bruce decided he’d bring that up later.

“I couldn’t just sit around while people died,” Bruce said. “I can’t be that selfish.” He watched Thor’s sunny face and wondered how one man could contain this much positivity. Bruce himself thrived on sarcasm and anxiety.

“I can remember bits and pieces of the battle, but Hulk doesn’t give me everything. Would you mind catching me up on what happened?”

Thor stood. “You need to eat, and I need to eat. Let’s get food, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Bruce shifted in bed and realized he was lacking something very important.

“Do you happen to have some clothes I can wear?”

“Oh! Yes of course. I apologize.” Thor grabbed a pile of fabric that was sitting on the dresser and pushed it into Bruce’s hands. “I’ll meet you in the corridor.”

 

Thor had lost so much in the past few days that Bruce was, frankly, a bit astonished that the man was still functioning. But Thor was strong in ways that didn’t just amount to how much he could bench and how hard he could swing. Thor was a force of his own, and Bruce couldn’t remember everything he saw as Hulk, but he could remember the way the lightning had rained from the sky as Thor had taken out zombie after zombie with nothing but the power he wielded from the air itself. Thor was a force of nature, and he was sunshine, and for all the superheroes and strange beings Bruce had met, he had never met anyone quite like Thor.

As Thor spoke of the battle and what had happened to Asgard, an exhausted but hopeful expression on his face, Bruce thought about the summer nights of his childhood when he had sat on the front porch and listened as an evening thunderstorm brought the dark neighborhood alive with something ancient and powerful.

Bruce had always loved thunderstorms.

It would take them three weeks to reach Earth from their position in space in the clunky craft Loki had stolen from the Grandmaster. Three weeks was a long time to be stuck in a metal craft with two hundred Asgardians and various other aliens that had been champions on Sakaar. Three weeks was a long time to keep the Hulk subdued in a metal fishbowl in space, and Bruce had to keep telling himself that the likelihood that they would meet something nasty and stressful while traveling out here was probably very low. Space was vast, after all, and their vessel was unassuming.

Bruce spent most of his time trailing Thor. Sometimes, he spoke with Valkyrie or had a halted conversation with Loki, but Loki was stabby and Bruce still didn’t trust him, and Valkyrie was pretty far out of his league in terms of simple conversation partners and surly to boot. They were better shield mates than they were drinking buddies.

Thor, on the other hand, seemed to genuinely like Bruce. They had known each other for six years, but this was the closest Bruce had ever felt to Thor. He had seen Thor’s home, talked with Thor’s people, and really understood what made him tick. Seeing the way Thor spoke to his people, helped them with their ailments, and tried to lighten their fears made Bruce realize that Thor was more similar to Bruce than he had ever expected.

Bruce could remember the weary doctor he had been, hiding in India and helping in whatever small way he could. This was what Bruce saw in Thor, and it drew Bruce in.

“No, no, no! You have to press it with your thumb like _this,_ and then lift it to your mouth.” Thor was trying to demonstrate to Bruce how to use the traditional eating utensil of some alien planet—Bruce honestly couldn’t pronounce the name of it if he tried—and was struggling immensely. Bruce had mentioned to Thor that he had acquired a taste of spicy foods from all the time he spent in Asia, and Thor had rushed to prepare him a dish he thought Bruce would like. Apparently, the dish wasn’t the same if you didn’t eat it with the weird double-handled fork-thing that Thor had handed him, a utensil that was much harder to learn than chopsticks.

“Is this right?” Bruce asked, only mildly exasperated.

This time, Thor reached across the table and grabbed Bruce’s hand to guide it into the correct shape.

Thor’s hand was incredibly warm and soft and _big_ where it was curled around Bruce’s, and Bruce felt his face heat almost immediately. Bruce hadn’t felt a tug from his libido like this in _years,_ and it was so surprising and new, it was nearly unrecognizable.

And it was for _Thor_ of all people. Sure, Thor was beautiful and powerful and a _god_ , but he was so unobtainable it was almost funny.

“There! Now you have it.” Thor pulled his hand back, and Bruce took a bite of the strange noodle dish in an attempt to mask his embarrassing response to Thor’s touch. The dish was good, and Bruce smiled, momentarily distracted from his situation.

“Wow, Thor. You’re a good chef.”

Thor beamed. “The royal cook taught me this recipe when I was a child. She was from off-planet, because my parents had desired someone with diverse tastes to cook for their children, and Loki and I were eager to learn whatever we could from her. Loki is a far better cook than I.”

“Yeah, but Loki might poison my meal, so I prefer your cooking.” Bruce scarfed down the rest of the dish, as Thor watched him in faint amusement while he finished his own bowl. The mess hall was quiet at this hour, and it made Bruce even more aware of how much time he spent with Thor.

“Is there something on your mind, Banner?”

Bruce shook his head. “I’m just being dumb. Thanks for cooking for me. I should probably turn in for the night.”

Night was relative, of course, when they were traveling through space, but the ship had its own night and day cycles to keep the mostly diurnal people inside from going mad.

Bruce stood, and that warm hand closed around his wrist. “Bruce, wait.”

Bruce. Thor rarely called him by his first name, and the sound of it in Thor’s deep, rich voice was a shock to Bruce’s already weak control.

“I wanted to talk to you somewhere private.”

Bruce swallowed and tried to keep his voice even when he spoke. “Your quarters are bigger than mine.”

Thor shook his head. “Loki is less likely to wander into your quarters.”

Bruce conceded, and they disposed of their dishes in the kitchen before heading to Bruce’s tiny closet of a room. His heart was hammering a pattern into his ribcage, and something jittery had settled into the base of his spine as their feet clanged against the metal grating of the hallway. It was a large ship, with winding tunnels of hallways and small hatches that led to different floors. Bruce’s room was on the same floor as the mess hall and the bridge. Thor’s room was on the same floor, as well, but his was closer to the front end of the ship where people could get to him easily if they needed him.

The door of Bruce’s quarters slid shut behind Bruce, and then he was alone with the God of Thunder. He turned to Thor, who looked large and too real against the harsh metal plating of the walls.

“You wanted to ask me something?” Bruce asked, a little wary of the strange spark in Thor’s eyes. This was an expression Bruce had never seen him wear before.

Thor took a step closer to Bruce, close enough that Bruce had to tip his head back to keep eye contact.

“May I kiss you?”

“Wh-what?”

“I believe you heard what I asked,” Thor said. He took a tiny step closer to Bruce, and Bruce felt his mind short out. He decided thinking things through was for other, stronger souls.

“Yes,” he replied, ignoring the questions buzzing through his head.

Thor’s broad hand settled on Bruce’s jaw, tipping his head just the right direction for Thor to bring their mouths together.

If Thor’s hands were warm, his mouth was _hot,_ and it was incredibly soft against Bruce’s. Bruce made a noise in the back of his throat, and Thor pressed deeper into the kiss. His tongue slid hot and heady past the seam of Bruce’s lips, and Bruce yielded. He wound his arms around Thor’s back and pulled their bodies flush, overwhelmed by the hard wall of muscle. Thor was strong and powerful, but he was so gentle, as if Bruce would break if handled incorrectly.

Bruce suspected Thor was the only being that had the power to truly and utterly break him, and Bruce knew Thor was one of the few that never would.

Thor pulled back just far enough so they could both pant into the warm space between them. “Bruce, I have wanted to kiss you since Sakaar.”

Bruce swallowed, and his fingers flexed where they rested on Thor’s broad back. “Why me? I’m just—”

Thor kissed the side of his mouth, and Bruce’s eyelids fluttered. “You are worth much more than you realize, and know that I will do whatever it takes to make you understand your worth,” Thor responded. “I know we are headed into chaos. I can sense it like the coming of a powerful storm, and I know once that happens we will have very little time to ourselves. I would like to take the handful of peaceful days ahead of us and use them to enjoy this.” He rested a hand on the small of Bruce’s back, and Bruce nodded.

“Yes. Yes, that sounds like a good plan.”

Thor grinned, and Bruce realized the spark he had seen in Thor’s eyes was _desire._

The bunk was small. It was fine for one average-sized man but _very_ cramped with that same man and the God of Thunder. They made it work, though, and Bruce liked the awkwardness that made their kisses messy and the placement of their limbs less sure. The messiness made it more human.

He liked to see Thor frustrated but in good humor as he readjusted to remove his shirt and pants without elbowing Bruce in the face. He liked the payoff when they finally found the right position.

Thor sank into Bruce with a groan, and Bruce threw his head back against the pillow at the overwhelming sensation. The Other Guy was nowhere in sight, and Bruce had to wonder if this was something that the Hulk approved of.

Bruce realized it was probably because the Other Guy _liked_ Thor.

Bruce clung to Thor’s shoulders and gasped as Thor began moving. It had been so long since Bruce had experienced this sort of intimacy, and Thor was being so gentle. When Thor kissed his throat and murmured his name, Bruce couldn’t help the high whine that escaped his mouth.

“Easy there, Bruce. I’ve got you,” Thor said, threading his fingers through the back of Bruce’s hair to cradle his head. “I’ve got you. You feel so good, do you know that?”

Bruce’s thoughts were scattering like pages in a strong gust of wind. So much of Bruce’s time in his small, human body was full of discomfort. Aching muscles from the fights he had gotten into as the Hulk, headaches from the concentration it took to keep the Other Guy down, stress and anxiety from the pressures the world put on him to be a hero.

His discomfort was far away, right now. He groaned as Thor shifted his angle and made something spark behind Bruce’s eyes. Thor found Bruce’s mouth, and their kiss was messy but everything that Bruce needed. Thor’s fingers tugged in the short strands at the back of Bruce’s hair, and his other hand wrapped around Bruce’s length.

It didn’t take long for Bruce, after that. He came with a groan of Thor’s name into Thor’s mouth. Thor pulled back enough to look down at him, and soon was following Bruce over the edge with a low cry and a nose pressed into Bruce’s shoulder.

Afterward, Thor moved so he wasn’t crushing Bruce to the bed, but still remained pressed along his side. They were sticky, but neither of them really cared. Thor dragged a finger across Bruce’s chest, and Bruce watched him with something incredibly warm lodged in his throat.

“I hope you don’t feel like we rushed into this,” Thor said after a few long moments of silence. His expression was unsure.

“Do you feel like we rushed into this?” Bruce asked.

“I think that the world may end at any moment, and that I am glad we did this while there was time to enjoy it,” Thor said with sincerity.

Bruce smiled. “Despite not realizing you were interested, I agree.”

Thor frowned. “You truly did not know?”

“I thought you were that touchy and friendly with everyone,” Bruce responded.

Thor laughed, a low rumbling sound. “You are a genius, yes, but none of your PhDs help you in deciphering body language and verbal cues, do they?”

Bruce sighed. “No one has been interested in me like this in a long, long time.”

“Natasha?”

Bruce shook his head. “That was a mistake, on both our parts. We were looking for solace in a team member, and as soon as everything with Ultron ended, I realized it wasn’t quite right. She’s too independent, and I’m too volatile. And we never did _this_.”

Thor nodded. “I did think your relationship strange, but I wasn’t going to say anything.”

Thor was watching him with such warmth in his gaze, and Bruce was still shocked that Thor felt this way about _him._

“Thor, I don’t want to sound like I’m fishing for compliments, but I do have to say, I don’t understand why you’re attracted to _me_.”

Thor sighed, and pressed his hand to the side of Bruce’s jaw like he had done before kissing him that first time. Bruce liked it.

“You are brilliant and brave and selfless, and you have more strength than you know, even without the Hulk. I don’t understand why it is so difficult for you to see your own value.”

Bruce closed his eyes. “You’re a gorgeous Norse God who’s been alive for over a thousand years, and I’m a dorky, anxious scientist.”

Thor brushed a thumb across Bruce’s cheekbone. “I would not have bedded you if I was not incredibly attracted to you, Bruce.”

Bruce sighed and melted into the attention. “I guess I’m just going to have to live with it.”

Thor smiled, and it was crooked and full. Bruce realized he might be a little in love, but that was for another time.

“Yes, you are going to have to deal with it. Now budge over so I can get some of the pillow.”

“You want to stay?” Bruce asked as he shifted to give Thor just enough room on the tiny bed.

“Of course I do. Now _shush.”_

Thor wrapped his bulky arms around Bruce’s waist, his large frame a hot line against Bruce’s back and his chin tucked over the top of Bruce’s head. Like this, warm and safe and happy, Bruce fell asleep in record time, and when he woke up, it was to the soft and caring touch of a man who Bruce realized would always be there for him, even when the world ended.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [tumblr](http://thevulcanpresident.tumblr.com)


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